


Laughter

by kiyala



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Crushes, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-04
Updated: 2016-03-04
Packaged: 2018-05-24 16:41:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6159935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyala/pseuds/kiyala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyoutani has a cute laugh and suddenly, Yahaba has a crush.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Laughter

There are some things in life that Yahaba has learned to resign himself to. His classmates will always be that extra bit nicer to him in the lead up to chemistry exams; he will never be as talented a setter as Oikawa; he will always feel a little overwhelmed by just how hot Kyoutani's body is, no matter how many times he sees it in the locker rooms. 

He's made his peace with these things. He doesn't get hung up on them any more. It's not a big deal, the way he once thought it was, and he can take comfort in the fact that at least none of these things are going to change, so he isn't going to have to deal with figuring out his thoughts and feelings all over again.

Of course, Kyoutani changes all of that but then again, Kyoutani seems to exist for the sole purpose of making Yahaba's life more difficult than it needs to be. Yahaba really should have known better than to expect otherwise. 

It happens one morning when they're at practice. One of the best things about the team is that they know when to be serious and when to joke around. Hanamaki and Matsukawa, especially, are good at easing the mood when they need a break, or when Oikawa is getting too serious.

Yahaba has seen the tension creeping into Oikawa's shoulders for the past few days, and he's clearly not the only one. He knows that Hanamaki and Matsukawa have noticed too, by the way he sometimes sees them confer as they watch Oikawa. Yahaba can tell that they're going to do something to address it soon, and he takes comfort in that.

He just doesn't expect it to be like this, with Oikawa sleepily walking out of the locker rooms, rubbing his eyes, wearing a skirt instead of his usual shorts. 

Hanamaki and Matsukawa, who are at practice unusually early, start snickering immediately, as if they can't even help themselves. Oikawa blinks at them blearily, but he doesn't actually realise what's happening until Iwaizumi walks in behind him and starts sputtering. 

"What are you—why—"

"Huh?" Oikawa follows Iwaizumi's gaze down the skirt, his eyes going wide. " _Huh_? I swear I put shorts on!"

Hanamaki and Matsukawa's laughter gets louder and they clutch at each other's shoulders, doubling over. Yahaba hides his smile behind his hand, because watching Oikawa get flustered like this is such a welcome sight. It's comforting to know that it happens to him, too.

"It's a skort, according to my sister," Hanamaki says. "You wear them like shorts and they look like a skirt. We knew you'd be too tired in the morning to pay attention to what you're putting on, so we swapped it with your shorts."

Oikawa's cheeks are pink, and the rest of the team is grinning too, pausing as they set up for practice so they can watch. 

"Why the hell," Iwaizumi says slowly, "is there a glittering pink bow on your butt?"

Hanamaki and Matsukawa start laughing all over again and so does everyone else. Yahaba hears a quiet, unfamiliar snicker beside him, and he turns with surprise to find Kyoutani standing there with his hand cupped over his mouth, his eyes crinkled as his shoulders shake. He can't suppress his laughter for long and it gets louder. Yahaba is frozen in place, unable to do anything but listen to Kyoutani's laugh, deep and rich as it bubbles out. He notices the rest of the team stopping too, turning to Kyoutani with wonder. Hopefully, with everyone's attention fixed on Kyoutani, no one will notice the way Yahaba's face is growing warm. He's always been so obvious when he blushes and he doubts it's any different now. 

He turns away, just a little, trying to hide it, but the movement draws Matsukawa's attention. Yahaba's stomach fills with dread as Matsukawa slowly raises an eyebrow at him with a curious look, but thankfully, Oikawa chooses that moment to speak up.

"I've never heard you laugh before, Mad Dog-chan. You should do it more often."

"I'll laugh if there are things worth laughing at," Kyoutani replies, sounding gruff and embarrassed. Yahaba wonders if he'd see spots of colour on Kyoutani's cheeks if he looked, but he's too afraid that Kyoutani will see just how red _he_ is in return, so he doesn't dare try.

"Are you saying I'm worth laughing at?" Oikawa asks, raising an eyebrow. "That's a good thing, as far as I'm concerned."

"Are you going to change?" Iwaizumi asks, frowning.

"Change?" Oikawa asks, folding his arms across his chest. "Absolutely not. I look cute."

"It's true," Matsukawa agrees, Hanamaki nods beside him, and that seems to decide things because Oikawa keeps his uniform just the way it is.

The mood for the rest of the practice is light-hearted, even as they focus on improving their techniques. The third years are amazing, Yahaba thinks to himself as he watches them. Even though they're all so talented already, they keep pushing themselves even further, refining their plays and broadening their skills. 

Yahaba can only hope to measure up, but as much as he wants to focus, he constantly finds himself distracted by the memory of Kyoutani's laugh. It makes his cheeks grow warm every single time, and Yahaba hopes that at least he can pass it off as flushing from physical exertion instead of blushing.

He can't even look at Kyoutani without wanting to smile, though, and it's a _problem_. It's even more difficult to deal with than the times in the locker rooms when he's desperately wanted to jump Kyoutani. Somehow, that's much easier to manage than this, where he's thinking about whether he can make Kyoutani laugh like that again, and how cute Kyoutani would look when he smiles. He wants to hold Kyoutani's hand, to feel all of Kyoutani's rough calluses against his own fingers, but more than any of that, Yahaba really wants to bang his head against a wall because developing a crush on someone because of their laugh is ridiculous enough as it is, but developing a crush on Kyoutani is probably the worst idea ever.

He thinks about it all day—he thinks about _Kyoutani_ all day and perhaps it's not the first time he's done that, but that's usually because he's dwelling on the most recent way Kyoutani's managed to be annoying, or fantasising about making out with him. Yahaba's not going either of those things now, though. He's thinking about where he'd take Kyoutani out for dates. He's wondering how it would feel to press his lips to Kyoutani's, not hard and demanding but soft and gentle and shy, the way he imagines a first kiss would be.

That ends up spiralling into Yahaba trying to imagine what Kyoutani would look like when he's shy and that's even more distracting. He doesn't think he'd be able to survive the sight of Kyoutani being bashful. He can barely survive the mere thought of It.

His crush on Kyoutani goes from being distracting to actively causing him grief once Watari catches on. Watari might be a nice guy when he's with the rest of the team, but he's also one of Yahaba's closest friends, which means that he'll tease Yahaba at every chance he can get. When Yahaba makes the mistake of sighing a little too loudly as he watches Kyoutani, Watari notices. Yahaba is doomed.

"I can't believe it," Watari grins, later that afternoon when they're walking home from practice together. "Kyoutani? Really?"

"I know," Yahaba groans. "Worst crush ever."

"I don't know, I don't think he's _that_ bad," Watari hums, stroking his chin. "A bit rough around the edges but hey, I guess if you're into that…"

"I am _not_ into that," Yahaba replies, shoving Watari. He sighs. "Well, actually. I guess I technically _am_."

"Yeah," Watari nods, and he's clearly enjoying this way too much. "You totally are. I shouldn't even be surprised, you know. You've always liked bossing people around. You've enjoyed it ever since the first years joined the team and you've had kouhai. Not that Kyoutani really lets you boss him around that much, but that doesn't stop you from trying, does it?"

"Shut up," Yahaba says, laughing as he follows Watari into the nearby convenience store.

"Except you've been kind of jumpy lately. Does this mean that you're probably not going to end up getting into a fight with him? Because I was ready to start a betting pool over who would win that fight."

Yahaba laughs a little louder this time, and a sudden movement in his peripheral vision makes him turn, and he finds himself looking directly at Kyoutani, standing there with a packet of fried chicken in his hands. He's staring at Yahaba, looking a little stunned, his face slowly going red.

"Oh, hey, Kyoutani!" Watari greets, and Kyoutani blinks with surprise, looking away from Yahaba.

Kyoutani's face is still red, though, and he sneaks a glance back at Yahaba. It takes everything Yahaba has to stop himself from reading into it, just in case he's being too optimistic.

"I didn't know you lived in this direction too!" Watari says, because he's either the best friend in the world, or the worst. Yahaba can't quite tell. "We were just going to the park nearby to eat. Do you want to come with us?"

"Uh," Kyoutani blinks at them. "…Not really."

"That's fine," Yahaba says quickly, grabbing his and Watari's usual snacks off the shelf. He pushes Watari towards the counter. "We'll see you later, then."

"You don't have to be shy, you know," Watari mutters as they pay for their snacks.

"I'm not shy," Yahaba replies, once they're outside again. "Just leave him alone if he wants to be left alone. He's not exactly big on team spirit or anything."

"Are you worried he doesn't like you?" Watari asks, as they sit down on their usual park bench, opening their packets of candy. "I mean, sure, it's Kyoutani so it's hard to tell what his frowns mean, but I don't think it's that bad!"

"Just drop it," Yahaba sighs, stuffing his mouth full of candy so he doesn't have to talk any more, relieved when Watari does the same. 

They only sit there for a few minutes before Watari gets a text from his sister, asking him to come home and help her with some homework. They bid goodbye, already planning on meeting up to walk to practice together the next morning. Yahaba finishes his candy, scrunching the wrapper up, and looks up to find Kyoutani walking past the park. 

Their eyes meet, and Kyoutani pauses. Yahaba knows an invitation when he sees one, and he knows better than to pass this one up. He gets to his feet, throwing the wrapper out and joining Kyoutani on the footpath. 

"So you really do live in this direction, huh?" he asks, just to break the silence because he knows that Kyoutani won't.

"Yeah." They fall into step with each other, walking in silence until Kyoutani clears his throat. "Your… uh. Your laugh. It's nice." 

"Oh," Yahaba blinks, feeling his cheeks growing warm all over again. "Thanks."

"Don't usually hear you laugh like that," Kyoutani mumbles, looking straight ahead of them instead of at Yahaba. "Not at practice." 

"You don't usually laugh either," Yahaba replies. "That other morning, when we were at practice and Oikawa-san was wearing a skort—"

Kyoutani snorts quietly, grinning, and Yahaba finds himself grinning too, because it's a nice sight. It's cute. Kyoutani's cute, and Yahaba has it so bad for him. That's another thing in life that he's just going to have to get used to.

"I like the way you laugh too," Yahaba murmurs. "I want to hear it more. Maybe even be the one to make you laugh like that." 

With a quiet huff, Kyoutani gives Yahaba a sideways glance, deliberately brushing their hands together. "Yeah? Sure. I'm going to make you laugh more too."


End file.
